NHTSA — Steering Problems

CarComplaints.com Notes: Since the Chrysler 200 first hit the streets, owners across the U.S. have complained about how their “dream car” quickly turned into a complete nightmare because of how the engine dies suddenly while driving.

10.0

really awful

Crashes / Fires:

1 / 0

Injuries / Deaths:

0 / 0

Average Mileage:

34,333 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

Search for Car Problems

2011 Chrysler 200 Owner Comments

200

106,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2011 Chrysler 200. While driving at any speed and veering to the left or right, the steering wheel made a knocking sound without warning. The vehicle was driven to a mechanic who diagnosed that the steering pin needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was excluded from NHTSA campaign number: 11V315000 (steering). The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

200

20,000 miles

The contact owns a 2011 Chrysler 200. The contact stated that while driving at 20 mph, the brakes and the steering wheel locked seized. The contact was able to come to a stop after restarting the vehicle. The failure occurred on two occasions. In addition, the air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed that a fuse failed. It was unknown where the vehicle was taken for repairs however the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000. The VIN was not available. TL-the contact owns a 2011 Chrysler 200. The contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the brakes and the steering wheel locked up on vehicle without warning. The contact was able to come to a stop after restarting the vehicle. This occured on two occasions. In addition, the air bag light remained illuminated. It was diagnosed that a fuse in the vehicle malfunctioned but the issue recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 20,000.

200

71,000 miles

I have a 2011 Chrysler 200 2.4L engine that over this passed week has stalled at least 8 times. Every time the vehicle will start to show signs of "lagging" and while at low speeds just shut off. I am currently a college student and rely on having a vehicle to drive, since I live 6 hours from home. Tonight I was on my way home and it stalled on me 4 times every time I would get about 100 yards and it would do it again, finally I got a safe place to park the vehicle and had to walk back to my apartment. Tomorrow I am having the vehicle towed to get it looked at. The check engine light does come on every time this happens but I go through the menu on the steering wheel and it always say "system: Ok" so no warning code is popping up. Which I know when I take it to the dealership they are going to say they "cannot replicate the problem" and just send me on my way. But this is a very big problem the steering wheel locks up every time the vehicle powers off and one of the times it has done this I was in the middle of an intersection. I no longer feel safe driving my own car and after seeing all of the other complaints about this same problem I would like to see something happen about it.

200

45,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After vehicle reaches highway speeds for 30 or so miles there is a loud clunking noise in the steering area in the engine compartment. Took to dealership and they replaced tie rods and did a alignment. 2 days later same thing happens as well as the alignment was way out of specs, took back to shop where they replaced sway bar and left strut and alignment. Few days later the same sound is happening and the car is out of alignment ruining a new set of tires. Taking back to the shop for third and final time.

200

53,000 miles

There's a horrible clunking noise supposedly coming from the steering wheel area. I have yet to find anyone pinpoint what it is plus I'm told the warranty is up. I originally complained to the dealer about the noise coming and going last year. No one heard it until May 17 when I drove about 40 miles at 65 mph on a highway. Since the the amount of time it takes for the noise to start has shorten to driving about 10 miles at 30 mph. I can't even go across town to get groceries w/O the noise starting up and getting really bad. After being at the dealer twice and 2 other mechanics I've been told it's either the intermittent steering shaft or the steering rack. Now online I see a recall on some rivet. Even a call to Chrysler itself yielded no results. I'm told this repair will cost $1,000 to $2,000!!! I don't have that kind of money!! please, please, someone help me!! I'm dependent on my car!!

200

70,000 miles

My steering wheel became hard to turn. It was like driving manually. I took my Chrysler 200 to pep boys and they replaced the power steering pump. The steering was fine for a day then it went back to being hard to turn. I took it back to pep boys and they replaced the pump again. It lasted for three days and it went back to being hard to turn. I again retuned to pep boys and they then said that my rack in pinion had to be replaced. I could not afford to get the work done. I was told by Chrysler, that my warranty had expired and I would have to pay out of pocket. My car was not yet 2 years old. This was ridiculous. No one wants to take responsibility for the front end. I was told by a pep boys mechanic that they had worked on over 100 cars (Chrysler 200's) through enterprise rental and they had so many cars with the steering issue that they stopped working on them and just do the tune ups. If Chrysler knows about this then they should have repaired it. My car is still in this position. I have not been able to get repairs due to lack of funds. I still do not feel that I should have to pay for something that is wrong with a new car. Now I am having an issue with my turn signal. When I turn on my left turn signal, the dashboard lights dim. When I turn the right turn signal on, the dome lights come on. I, again repeat, this is a new car and I should not have to deal with these occurrences. I have had to change the battery in its second year, and replace the alternator. I look forward to hearing from someone. Thank you.

200 6-cyl

48,313 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Sunday afternoon I came to a stop to make a left turn. I proceeded I made it into the parking lot and that's when the car engine shut off. I put brakes on immediately to avoid hitting a car because I could not turn my wheel because power steering was off because engine shut off. Scared me. I took it to robersons dealership 2 weeks prior to this because it did it twice. They ran computer test found nothing wrong. And then today this happened. I am scared. I will take car back to dealership tomorrow. Monday Jan 12 2015. I then read this has happened to others and Chrysler did find a problem but NHTSA did not force them to recall. Someone could get killed if car stalls while crossing a road and get slammed into. This is in excusable, and needs to be recalled. I am scared and furious and shaken up. The steering felt weird right before it happened.

200

14 miles

The contact owns a 2011 Chrysler 200. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 30 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. In addition, the brake pedal was depressed and failed to respond. The vehicle stalled and the contact crashed into another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the technician informed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 14.

200 4-cyl

15,000 miles

Once I drove the vehicle off the enterprise lot I notice that the steering was not stable. I called in for the recall and they stated that my VIN was not effected. However my vehicle was purchase via enterprise as part of a fleet. Could this be the reason when I asked them to just look at my vehicle I was told no because my VIN was not included. Vehicle still has the same issue when I hit a bump in the road. If feel like your going to lose control of the car.

200 4-cyl

20,200 miles

While accelerating or decelerating to the speeds between 50 and 55 mph, the steering wheel gives a vibration, and stays vibrating until a different speed is reached. Before or after the driving speed of 50 and 55 occurs, I do not notice the vibration.

200

10,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2011 Chrysler 200. The contact stated that when driving approximately 50 mph on wet roads, he would lose control of the rear end of the vehicle and sway to the left. The contact could not drive over 15 mph in icy road weather. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where a full alignment was performed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was repaired. The approximately failure mileage was 10,000. The VIN was not available.

200

46,000 miles

Unsafe for winter driving. 1st. Time driven on patchy ice on state highway car was erratic. Every time the car crossed an irregular uneven patch in the road (I.e. patch of ice or hard pack snow) car veers suddenly, violently left or right. Dealer suggested taking snow tires off and putting matched set of tires back on thinking the mismatched set affected the stability control. Result was same with matched tires. Chrysler 200 online forum shows many owners with same complaint. May be design flaw, rear wheel base wider than front wheels. Rear wheels will not track straight when encountering uneven patches of ice or snow. In my 35 years of driving in northern mich. It's the worst car I've driven in the winter. I just bought it, and now my wife is afraid to drive it.

200

20,960 miles

When I was making a gradual right hand turn (curve to the right) at approximately 15 mph, on flat land, I experienced total engine shutdown, electrical shutdown, and loss of power steering in a split second - without warning. After I gathered my composure, I put the car in park, turned the ignition off, then turned the ignition back on and I was on my way without issue since. My 2011 Chrysler 200 (4 cylinder) has only experienced this 1 time, but once is definitely enough for me!

200 4-cyl

5,750 miles

On July 18, 2012 I bought a Chrysler dealer this car, left over from 2011. I bought it as a new car. On highway trip I started noticing vibration in the car guide, and soon began to feel a noise as if something had loose near or connected to the front wheels of the car. After two visits to the dealer where I bought the vehicle report that has damaged the rack and pinion and I should wait two weeks for repair because they have no parts available in stock. I do not know if it is safe to drive the car in these conditions because it did not inform me.

200 6-cyl

21,000 miles

Hearing front end clunking sounds when accelerating from stop and slowing down to a stop, and also noticing slight pull on steering, I brought my car to Chrysler dealer in avondale, AZ. Since my car is under warranty, only 15 months ownership and under 22K miles, I am concerned. This is the 2nd time my car has had serious problems; first was the transmission which fell apart at one week and 500 miles. The transmission was replaced at no cost to me by this dealer. My concern now is the front end - I was advised the inner tie rod ends are defective and must be replaced; items are on backorder. Why would tie rod ends be defective, so soon, with not excessive mileage at this time" the service manager verbally noted that my car is not the only one with this problem, and yet, no recall has been issued at this time - why not? shouldn't the tie rods also be replaced since they're not affected by the defective tie rod ends" in my opinion, a recall needs to be issued for safety concerns re: Tie rod ends on this vehicle.

200 4-cyl

200

4,500 miles

First incident occurred when I was traveling on interstate. Approximate speed was 65. I began to slow in far right lane for exit ramp. The car immediately died leaving me with no ability to get off high way. No power steering, lights, etc. The car did start again after being put into park and turning ignition. Very dangerous as fast moving traffic behind me had to slam on brakes. Second incident occurred when sitting at a stop light. All of a sudden the engine revved up and car jerk forward into intersection. My foot was on brake but it still lurched forward. When I took to dealer they said they could find nothing wrong when they ran a diagnostic.

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